


Circus of Life

by Rayofnight21



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Lion King Fusion, Backstory, Canon Related, Circus, Couple, Crossover, Cute, Disney, Dumbo - Freeform, Elephants, F/M, Family, Fantasy, Feels, Fiction, Fluff, Handholding, Heroes and Villains, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hyenas, M/M, Multi, OUAT - Freeform, Once Upon a Time Season 4 Ep14 "Unforgiven", Romance, Sad eventually, Season 4B, Tarzan - Freeform, The Jungle Book - Freeform, Tigers, aladdin - Freeform, lgbtq+, panther
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-14 04:48:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4551081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayofnight21/pseuds/Rayofnight21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The residents of Storybrooke are recovering after finding out Maleficent has returned, when someone tries to cross the town line. The people of the town rush to see what the threat may be and are surprised to meet Ringmaster Mufasa and his family, as well as a host of colourful performers in a very strange and curious circus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Circus of Life

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy this, its my first time publishing a story. Please let me know what you think <3\. In this Storybrooke, Phoebus from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is a member of the Police Department. The story picks up just after Season 4 Ep.14 "Unforgiven"  
> Thanks to CarpeNoctem742 and InsanityBiscuit for beta-ing.

    Emma smiled across the table at Killian. The former Pirate smiled back as she took his hand and squeezed lightly. She glanced around Granny’s and saw her parents deep in discussion. They seemed on edge about something. Not that she thought their fears were completely unfounded anymore. After Cruella and Ursula resurrected Maleficent, it had become obvious to Emma that something strange was afoot. Despite her parent’s worry there was a strange calm in the diner. Regina sat in the booth behind Killian chatting with Henry. She sunk back into her seat as she accepted the evening’s peace.

     All of a sudden, a boom rang across the town. The windows of the diner shook and the door swung open. Everyone looked at one another and then sprinted out of the restaurant in a group. Belle ran from the Pawn Shop with Will at her side. The pair looked as confused as the rest of the town’s residents. The sun was just beginning to set over the bay, the dwindling light flickering across the waves like flames and to the east, the sky had grown dark.

  “It’s the spell protecting the town line” Regina said “Someone is trying to get in we need to get to the outskirts of the town. Now!”

The group reassembled at the border of Storybrooke. Phoebus was already waiting there, leaning against the side of his police cruiser. He shot a cocky smile at Emma as she walked towards him.

“It is about time” he commented, pushing himself off the car and flicking his shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes. Emma simply rolled her eyes and returned his grin.

The field of magic around the town throbbed and pulsed orange every few minutes, a russet ripple across the darkening twilight sky. There was no sign of anyone on the other side of the wall.

“Regina? What’s going on? Why can’t we see who’s out there?” Phoebus asked.

“I don’t know! Whoever is out there is hiding themselves” Regina replied, her face contorted in a mix between confusion and annoyance “I have no idea how they are doing it.”

     The entire crowd turned as Cruella’s black and white car screeched to halt, just inches away from where Mary Margaret and David were standing. The black-and-white haired woman clambered out of from behind the driver’s seat. She shrugged on her enormous white fur coat, as Maleficent climbed out of the passenger side, Ursula from the back. Regina stormed over to the trio.

“What is going on? Who’s out there?” she demanded, her hands tense in a position that could produce a fireball in seconds.

The three women glanced at each other and grinned, clearly not intimidated by Regina’s aggressive stance. Cruella turned to their accuser and her dark smile grew wider.

“Is that how things are going to be from now on?” She laughed. “Every time something _“evil”_ happens we are the ones who get the blame.”

“Well you are finding this oddly amusing!”  Regina snarled, suspicion dripping from her voice.

Maleficent sighed “We don’t know anything about it. Do we, Ladies?”

Cruella and Ursula shook their heads slowly and sarcastically. The mocking grins returned to all three faces. The ground trembled as another ripple ran through the barrier, stronger than before. Regina spun around quickly and screamed to group “It is going to come down. Everyone out of the way we don’t know what’s going to come through.”

            Everyone moved to the sides of the road as the magic field shook again. A strange noise rang out from the other side. The assembled crowd shot confused glances at each other. Will wrapped his arms around Belle in a protective manner, and Emma took Killian’s hand. She turned to him and whispered “Was that an elephant?”

At that second, a wave of bright, orange light shot through the sky and a strong gush of wind ran through the town. As the glare faded, the crowd stepped back in disbelief. “Christ, you were right” Killian laughed as a big grey elephant lumbered up the street. It pulled a large red trailer. On the side large gold and white letters spelt out

_**“THE LION BROTHERS’ CIRCUS”** _

On top of the trailer stood five people, all of them with dark brown skin, three men and two women. All were dressed in flashy outfits, all fringe, sequin and rhinestones. Four of the group waved and smiled, one of the men, tall and lean stood at the back, leaning on a cane, observing the gathered crowd with a cool, mean glare.

 As the elephant continued, more trailers followed behind, all in bright colours and flashy designs, some pulled by more elephants, others by teams of horses. Some were stacked with supplies, others were caravans, which were clearly occupied. Two black horses pulled a trailer with barred sides. Behind the bars slept two tigers and a panther. Two more elephants tugged a second barred trailer housing three cackling hyenas, and a fourth behind it holding three gorillas. A rainbow painted wagon followed, the only one with people visible. Two men stood in the caravan’s open door, one was tall, tanned and muscular with long brown dreadlocks hanging down his back. He wore grey sweatpants and a black vest which showed off his strong arms. Behind him stood a slightly shorter man, dressed in a long blue and gold silk dressing gown. He had short brown hair and rested on a hand on the shoulder of the other man. Both looked like they had just woken up. As they moved on a few final wagons made their way into town. At the end of the convoy walked an elderly man, his dark shin wrinkled with age and covered with tribal tattoos and bright body paint. Once over the town line, he turned his back to the circus and drew his hands out from under his dark robe, a long stick in one hand. He shook the stick erratically and chanted, and with a flash of orange the field of magic seemed to come right again. As he did, the train of wagons came to a standstill.

“Do not worry residents of Storybrooke!” boomed a male voice. It was strong and deep, but full of warmth. His English was clear but his speech was tinted with an accent no one assembled could recognise. Hook and Emma sprinted to the front of the group where Mary Margaret and David were waiting with Belle, Will, Regina and Henry. Regina had pushed her adopted son behind her in case something bad were to happen. Cruella, Maleficent and Ursula waited behind them, all three seated in the long nose of Cruella’s monochrome car. All assembled stared up, past the elephant, to the people standing on top of the trailer. All five walked to the edge of the trailer and kicked ropes over the side and slid down onto the street. They gathered in a line, the elephant behind them and the residents of Storybrooke in front of them. The tallest man stepped forward and smiled from under his top hat, his white teeth contrasting the dark of his skin. He wore a heavy red tail coat, trimmed with gold, and black epaulettes. Under the exquisite coat, a black waistcoat and trousers were visible along with a starched white shirt and red bow tie. “My name is Mufasa. I am the head of Lion Brothers’ circus.”

_This was definitely the man who spoke earlier_ Emma thought, _there is no way two people could have a voice like that._

     “Let me introduce my family,” the big man continued, still smiling. “My wife, Sarabi.”

He gestured to the woman beside him. Sarabi stepped forward to stand beside her husband, adopting his easy smile. She was a short woman, with a pretty face, the signs of age beginning to develop. Her long, black hair was finely braided and pulled into a bun on the crown of her head. She was dressed in yellow and brown tribal robes, which would have stood out in most places but looked plain in comparison to the gaudy garb of the rest of her party.

“It is very exciting to be here, and I cannot wait to get to know you all” Sarabi said. Her voice was soft and sweet, with the same mysterious accent as her husband.

“My son, Simba and his wife, Nala.” Mufasa said, as a young couple steeped forward. Simba was a carbon copy of his father, if an inch or so shorter. Nala was nearly as tall as her husband, beautiful, despite her slightly wide eyes. The pair wore matching black and gold leotards. “Our trapeze act.” Mufasa explained.

“Finally, my brother Scar,” Mufasa said, concluding his introductions “he trains hyenas.”

The tall, mean looking man with the cane walked forward. Emma heard Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula muttering, and was instinctively curious but she was captivated by the man in front of her. His smile was a dark sneer and his long, straight black hair was slicked back over his head. However his most distinct feature was a long, nasty scar running through his left eyebrow and down onto his cheek.

“I think it is clear where he gets his nickname.” Mufasa chortled. Scar rolled his eyes, and increased his sneer in blindingly fake humour.

 

       The residents of Storybrooke remained silent for a moment before everyone launched their questions, suspicions and accusations at once.

“Why are you here?”

“How did you get through the barrier?”

“Where did you come from?”

“How do you know about us?”

“How long will you be staying?”

“How many people travel with you?”

“Are those animals dangerous?”

Mufasa just laughed and said “You are all safe, and all your questions will be answered in due time, but tonight we are tired and need to set up camp. Feel free to visit us at any time and we look forward to getting to know you all.”

    He gave the crowd another flash of his friendly smile, before him and his family turned and retreated into the mass of stationary wagons. Without warning the elephant began to move forward and the residents of Storybrooke hastily scattered to get out of its way. They were left looking dazed at either side of the road as the company passed through, a ménage of bright paint, bulking cargo and colourful flags and sashes which flapped in the cool evening breeze. They could do nothing but look on as the circus made its way to the other side of town to set up camp in a large empty field.


End file.
